Ransom
by Craic agus Ceol
Summary: Post movie. Riley is kidnapped, and it's up to Ben and Abigail, along with an old college friend of Riley's, to find him. Unfortunately, someone knows more than they're letting on...will Riley pay the price?
1. Old Friends

A/n-I'm finally back, after a long, hectic year of AP US History. I finally got around to writing another NT story, and once again it's "bad stuff happens to Riley". But hey, what else is new? This is set a couple of months after the first movie, and will most likely be made obsolete with the second one, which is why I wanted to post it before the movie came out. I will try my hardest not to abandon the story, but I've been a flaky writer of late (writer's block, job hunting, lack of plot ideas, etc.) and I'll try to finish it within a reasonable amount of time!

Disclaimer-I don't own anything NT affiliated. I do own an almost grotesque amount of OCs, though. I like inventing them, damnit, and they keep invading my writing! And if anyone remembers Brynn from the first time I tried to make up my own NT story, she's back! W00t!

Acknowledgements-my beta, **Rhiannon Aurorafai**. She cut a lot of pointless filler! Everyone give her a cookie! Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine only!

* * *

Riley Poole sleepily stumbled down the hallway of his apartment complex, intent on making it to his mailbox before he fell back asleep. He hated getting up early in the morning to get the mail, but both the mailman and the paper boy delivered freakishly early, in Riley's opinion, and he had to beat his neighbors to the mailbox lest his paper be stolen again.

Upon seeing the front stoop of the building, Riley cursed under his breath. Once again, his newspaper had mysteriously vanished. He mentally swore revenge on the mysterious paper thief, once he uncovered their true identity. Fumbling for his mailbox key, he finally opened the box and pulled out the thick stack of junk mail and bills. Riley rarely got any letters; he preferred correspondence via email.

"Mornin', Riley. Has the dastardly newspaper thief struck again?" a blonde woman, perhaps in her early thirties, stepped out the door. She was dressed in track sweats and a sports bra, and her blonde hair was pulled out of her face and into a high ponytail. She grinned knowingly, shifting the water bottle tucked under her arm so she could access her purse and retrieve her mail.

"Hey, Natalie. Do you _see _my newspaper anywhere? I think it's obvious that the paper thief has continued his, or her, newspaper-jacking spree! I keep getting up early to try and catch him, and I always miss him!" Riley folded his arms. Natalie and Derek Love occupied the apartment down the hall from Riley, with a pair of energetic four-year-old twins named Jacqui and Neil. Riley often babysat for the Loves when Natalie and Derek were working.

Rolling her eyes, Natalie stated, "Firstly, I hardly think ten o'clock is early. And I hope your crime-solving techniques are up to par. I think this is going to be the case of your lifetime. Good luck, Riley!" she waved and headed for her car. Riley opened his mouth to retort, but decided against it. Sometimes it was easier to let Natalie have the last word.

Riley made it back to his apartment and spread his mail on the small kitchen table. Despite being very rich from the money he collected from the discovery of the Templar treasure, Riley's apartment remained very sparsely decorated. Most of the money was tucked away safely in his bank, except, of course, for the money he'd spent on his beloved car. And his beloved computer. And his beloved entertainment system.

Pouring a bowl of Frosted Cheerios and settling at the kitchen table, Riley began sorting through the mail. Most of it was junk mail, which went into one pile. A small second pile formed for bills; those he'd deal with later. He rarely had any letters, but today was different. A stark white envelope stared up at Riley from the shrinking disorganized mail pile. He picked it up and investigated it. There was no return address, and the mailing address was handwritten. Shrugging, he put the letter aside from the rest of the mail, and finished off the last of the cereal. As he rose to rinse out the bowl and recycle the offending junk mail, the doorbell rang.

Muttering angrily to himself about intruders onto his breakfast, he opened the door and demanded, "What?"

The short brunette on his doorstep laughed, "Riley Poole, I'm ashamed, answering the door like that. Surely you meant to ask 'What the hell do you want?' or some other equally colorful phrase!" Riley stared in shock, before letting loose a small chuckle.

"Brynn Gallagher! Where on Earth did you fall from? Last I heard, you were still in Ireland watching your grandparent's farm!" Riley stood aside to let the young woman in.

"Yeah, well,. I come home and you'd vanished from the face of the Earth. Quit your job, left Washington, blah blah blah. Then I'm watching TV, and there you are with the blonde woman and that other guy, and they're talking about how the three of you found this ancient treasure buried under Philadelphia, of all places! What the hell has been going on?" Brynn lounged on the couch. "Nice entertainment system, by the way. Love the surround sound."

"Thanks. Yeah, well, I was picked up by 'the other guy' because of my excellence with computers and my shameless begging. And voila, here I am with a some nice electronics and an awesomely beautiful car!" Riley shrugged. "Good things do happen to good people." Brynn snorted.

"Have you totaled it yet? Because, if I remember correctly, that's what you did to my beloved little Volvo. You still haven't bought me a new car!" she jokingly accused.

"So it's my fault that I stopped at a red light and was rear-ended by some guy going fifty? Thanks, Brynn. Means a lot," Brynn rolled her eyes.

"You got a concussion. My car was a wreck! Anyway, it's nice to reminisce about old times, but I've been in town a while and hurt that you haven't looked me up. Surely you didn't forget about me?" Brynn asked, pseudo-hurt shining in her blue eyes.

"How could I forget the English major whose sole delight was tormenting her roommates?" Riley asked. Brynn and Riley had managed to move out of the dorms in their last two years of college, and, along with a couple of their friends, had managed to scrape together enough money to afford housing. Unfortunately, several of the roommates were self-proclaimed "prank masters", and full-scale wars would frequently break out and cause everyone to fear walking into a room, cooking, eating, or doing laundry.

"You can't argue that it wasn't always a riot at our place," Brynn shrugged. "And you guys participated, and retaliated, for the most part. Vicky was vicious…which was why we called her 'Vicious Vicky', if I remember. So, Riley, what're you doing today? I thought maybe we could do lunch and catch up a bit. I have some roommates who would love to meet the crazy disappearing fool that I've been talking about since I saw you on TV that one time."

"I'm supposed to meet friends of mine for lunch at 11:30, sorry," Riley smiled apologetically.

"11:30? Are you aware of the fact that it's, like 11:00 right now?" Brynn asked, frowning.

"Are you kidding me?" Riley demanded, looking at his clock. Damn, she was right. Riley leapt up and raced to his room, changing quickly into the first outfit he could find.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Brynn called from the living room.

"Shut up, Brynn!" Riley shouted, heading to the bathroom. He emerged not too long after, hair brushed, shaved, teeth cleaned, contacts in.

"You clean up nice," Brynn smirked. "I guess you'll be showing me out then?"

"I'd ask you to come with me, but in all honesty I don't think my friends could really…" Riley shrugged. Brynn laughed, not at all offended.

"Handle me, right. Remember our old Gen. Ed. science professor? He didn't understand how so much epinephrine, seratonin, and plain old energy could be crammed in my 'tiny, 5'2'' 135-lb. frame'," Brynn blinked. "How the hell he knew my weight still eludes me. Freakin' stalker."

"Yeah, yeah, scary science teachers. I really oughtta be out of here, right now. And don't even think about making off with any of my CDs, DVDs, computer games, et cetera!" Riley grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch, fished in the pocket for the keys, and headed for the door. Brynn rolled her eyes and followed him.

"Hey, are you doing anything tonight though? My roommates and I are going to see the new Pirates movie, and we have an extra ticket. Both my roommates have boyfriends they're inviting, and since Rowan was stupid, she ordered a ticket for me to bring my 'significant other' too. Seeing as I don't have one, we're left with an extra ticket. Fancy coming along?" Brynn asked, eyeballing Riley's DVD collection. He steered her towards the door.

"Sure, why not?" Riley shrugged.

"Good. I'll pick you up at six. Be sure to be dressed pirate-y, or else we'll shun you. I mean it, too," Brynn gave Riley a meaningful look.

"Alright, alright. Six o'clock. Dressed, uh, 'pirate-y'. I got it. Let's go, Brynn!" Riley implored. Brynn smiled and headed out the door. Riley turned and locked it behind him.

The white envelope was left on the table, forgotten for the moment. It wouldn't be long before Riley wished he'd opened it instead of abandoning it on the kitchen table.

* * *

Yeah, it's short. The second chapter's short, too. Eventually the action will pick up and maybe the chapters'll be long. Be nice with reviews! 


	2. Lunch

A/n-Argh, this one's even shorter than the first. Sorry, sorry. But the action picks up! Woohoo!

Disclaimer-I don't own anyone except Brynn, her roommates, and Carrollyn the waitress (I have to stop naming random characters. But it's so much fun!). I don't even own the name "Pichon's" (It was this cute local deli a few blocks from my house, but it got bought out and is now this cute local deli a few blocks from my house called "Mama Mia's") .

Thanks as ever to my beta **Rhiannon Aurorafai**. Give her cookies and such for putting up with my inability to keep on one topic when we're corresponding ("So, you think I need a comma there...did you watch NCIS last night?"). Any remaining mistakes belong to me and me only.

* * *

Riley pulled up in front of the small restaurant, a family-owned joint called Pichon's, and smiled. He was intimately familiar with the majority of the staff; he frequented the place often because of its good sandwiches and proximity to his apartment complex. He entered, grinning widely at the woman behind the cash register. As the restaurant was small, there was no hostess or podium; if the place was crowded, one of the waitresses doubled as the hostess. 

"Well, if it isn't Riley Poole," the cashier smirked. Her nametag read 'Carrollyn'. "I see you made another reservation. Meeting friends again? How many times have I told you that making a reservation is a waste of time; we're rarely full enough to warrant that."

Riley shrugged. "As my friends when they get here. How're things, Carroll?"

"Same as usual. Honestly, though, when was the last time you were here? Yesterday?"

"I can't help it if the waitresses are so pretty," Riley smirked. Carrollyn frowned.

"The _waitresses _are pretty? Hmm, I can't seem to find your reservation anywhere. What name was it under?" Carrollyn scanned a piece of paper beside the cash register.

"Of course, the prettiness of the waitresses pales beside the ravishing beauty of the cashier and pie boxer," Riley amended, the smile never leaving his face. Carrollyn laughed. The verbal tango was frequent between them; Carrollyn would tease, Riley would insult, Carrollyn would anger, Riley would amend and flirt. There was nothing serious between them.

"Yes, it does," Carrollyn nodded. "Take your pick of the tables, Riley. You're a bit early for the lunch rush and late for the breakfast rush." Riley nodded and picked a table next to the window. The only other people in the restaurant were a man and his young daughter and two women seated at the counter. The girl and her father were also frequent patrons, and the small, curly-haired brunette waved at him as he sat down.

It didn't take long for a tall man and a blonde woman to enter the restaurant. Riley waved them over.

"Could you have picked a more obscure place for lunch?" the man, Ben Gates, asked. Riley smirked.

"Yeah, I probably could've. But my directions were perfect!" Riley protested. "What took you so long?"

"Maybe your directions were perfect, but your handwriting is questionable," Ben's fiancée, Abigail Chase, replied.

"Nobody's ever complained before," Riley shrugged, turning back to the menu.

"Yes I have," Ben retorted. "So, Riley, what's good here?"

After an extremely satisfying meal, Riley finally put an elbow on the table and looked Ben in the eye. "So, why exactly did you want to have lunch? I mean, you could've just dropped by the office or something?"

"Riley," Ben said patiently, "what office?"

"You know what I meant," Riley rolled his eyes. "What's going on, Ben?"

"Well, Abigail wanted to ask you if…"

"If you want to upgrade all the computers and document databases in the National Archives," Abigail interrupted Ben. Riley blinked. "It's a big job, but somebody has to do it."

"You're letting me handle all those computers? And that huge database? What kind of idiot would say 'no'?" Riley grinned. "Maybe I'll discover some long-hidden government secrets!"

"Doubtful," Abigail said dubiously, "This is the National Archives, Riley. Nearly everything's in the public domain…at least, all the stuff you'll be handling." Riley gave a fake pout.

"But I think he still said 'yes', right?" Ben asked. Riley nodded.

"When do I start?" he asked.

"Next week, once I get you cleared and find a few more employees. You will be working for me, by the way," Abigail smiled wickedly.

"Great," Riley grumbled. He fished a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket and put it on the table. "This should cover my food, though if Abigail's going to be my boss, she should be paying for me, 'cause eventually I'll be using my pay to…uh, pay for stuff."

"Do you have some sort of big date you're rushing off to?" Abigail inquired. Riley smiled mysteriously.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that. I'll spare you all the details of my _gorgeous_ girlfriend and the _romantic, expensive _place we're going to," Riley said, mentally wondering how Brynn would react to his description of her and their outing. She'd probably punch him in the shoulder. Abigail's interest was immediately piqued.

"Really? I was joking! You're going on a date?" she asked.

"No, I'm staying at home, heating up some leftover pizza and watching bad TV. Of course I'm going out! Which means that I'm leaving now," Riley looked offended. He checked his watch. "Yeah, I gotta get going. I'll see you guys later."

Abigail looked at Ben as Riley left. "He really has a date. Who knew?" Ben shrugged.

"It wouldn't be the first time. He had a fairly steady girlfriend in college, I think, but he doesn't talk about her much; they'd broken up before he signed on for the Templar treasure search," Ben paused. "Maybe this'll be good for him." He fished for his wallet to pay the remainder of the bill.

"I wonder where they're going? Where would Riley take a date? The arcade? Sharper Image?" Abigail mused. Ben shrugged. "I guess I'll have to ask him about it tomorrow…"

* * *

It was only one o'clock, but Riley was very familiar with his old college friend. If she said she'd pick him up at six, he knew she'd come around at three because she was bored and sick of waiting for the minute hand on her watch to make another three revolutions. Besides, Riley knew his wardrobe happened to be lacking any "pirate-y" outfits, and he needed to find one. He knew from experience that if he defied a direct order like the one Brynn had given, the next couple of days would be a living hell. 

It took a few stops before Riley was able to pick up what could pass as a pirate costume from the Party Store and Goodwill. More than a few people gave him looks that plainly stated "Pirate costumes? In June? Hello, Halloween isn't until October!" But somehow or another, Riley made it back to his apartment a good forty-five minutes before he'd scheduled Brynn to show up.

Fumbling plastic bags and keys, Riley managed to unlock the door and step in. Immediately he felt that something was off. Putting the bags on the couch and tossing the keys onto the end table, he scowled. There were little white scraps of paper littering the carpeted floor. He picked a few up, not entirely sure where they'd come from. Contemplating the paper shreds, he followed a trail of them into the kitchen. Looking to the kitchen table, he realized that the letter he'd received was missing.

"Ok, so that explains the paper," Riley mused aloud, "but who tore them up?" Deciding that it must've been some prank of Brynn's, and that she'd snuck into his house, Riley began collecting the bits of paper strewn on his floor.

Suddenly, the back of his head exploded in pain, and Riley remembered no more.

* * *

So yeah, evil cliffhanger. You'll have to just deal with it. I'm trying to post a chapter once a week so I don't get caught up in rapid-fire posting at the beginning and then don't post for three months towards the end. So you'll just have to wait and see what happens to our beloved Riley! See you next week! 


	3. Missing

A/n-Well, here's chapter 3. I can't think of anything relatively pertinent to say right now, so just get on reading. And to you Americans out there: Happy Fourth of July!

Disclaimer-I wish I owned Riley, but I don't. I am the proud owner of Brynn, Rowan, and Renée, and I also own the name I picked for Abigail's secretary.

Thanks to **Rhiannon Aurorafai** for beta-ing and questioning my spelling. And, because I forgot to mention this earlier, thanks to ALL my reviewers (and you non-reviewing lurkers! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!!!) for all your support!

* * *

"C'mon, Riley, I'm only three hours early," Brynn muttered as she knocked impatiently on Riley's door. Already dressed in full pirate regalia, she adjusted her headgear as she waited for Riley to answer the door. "You know me better than this!" 

A buxom blonde, also dressed as a pirate, came down the hallway toward Brynn. "Brynn, what's up? Your boyfriend's not home?" she asked.

"He's not my boyfriend, Rowan," Brynn rolled her eyes at her roommate. She grabbed the doorknob, and to her immense surprise, it was unlocked. "Huh. That's bizarre." She commented.

"The door's unlocked?" Rowan asked, arching her eyebrows. Brynn stepped into the apartment, noting the scraps of paper on the ground.

"Ok, messy. What's this?" Brynn asked, picking up a white envelope on the floor. Rowan took one look at the interior of the apartment and pulled out her cell phone.

"I'm calling the police. It looks like this place was ransacked!" she stated. Brynn opened the envelope and scanned the letter inside.

"No, wait!" Brynn commanded. Rowan put her cell down and stared at Brynn.

"What do you mean, 'wait'?" Rowan demanded, her blue-green eyes flashing as they met Brynn's blue ones. "It looks like your friend's house has been robbed, and he's not here! He could've been kidnapped or something!"

"Rowan, what I've got here is a ransom demand. Yeah, Riley's gone, and we can't do anything about it. Whoever this is says that if we contact the police, or the FBI, or anyone, he'll kill Riley. I guess he has some sort of contact or something in law enforcement. Scary thought…" Brynn swallowed hard. Rowan took the note and scanned it, her face blanching.

"Who's this addressed to, though?" she asked. "Abigail Chase and Ben Gates? Is that the same Abigail Chase that Renée works for?"

"I think Abigail and Ben are friends of Riley's; he mentioned meeting them for lunch. I guess it's the same Abigail. I mean, how many other Abigail Chases are there?" Brynn took the letter back from Rowan. "I should take this to them; they're going to want to know what happened to Riley. I think I'm going to have to decline the movie invitation for tonight."

"I thought so," Rowan shrugged. "I'll let Renée know, and we'll call the boys and cancel. D'you need a ride…where are you going anyway?"

"Yeah, we're going to the National Archives."

* * *

"I can't let you in. Dr. Chase said no calls, and that means no calls," Gloria Roberts, secretary to Dr. Abigail Chase, glared angrily at the three women before her desk, all dressed in pirate costumes. She recognized one of them and glared. "Miss King, I thought you were taking the afternoon off?" 

"Something came up," Renée King, a tanned, lissome brunette replied. "And we need to talk to Dr. Chase."

"Sorry, Miss King, but she said no calls. I don't care if you sent a carrier pigeon, you would not be able to contact her," Gloria shook her head. One of the other pirates, a skinny, freckled brunette, glared harshly and waved an envelope in her face.

"This is a matter of life and death," she snapped. The third pirate, a blonde, looked pale and unhappy. "It's an emergency!" Gloria sighed.

"She's not going to be happy, you know," Gloria warned.

"I think that much is obvious," the brunette rolled her eyes.

"Alright, who are you people?" Gloria asked, looking pointedly at Renée.

"Renée King, Brynn Gallagher, and Rowan Carmichael," Renée pointed at her pirate companions in turn. "Go on, Gloria, and make sure to tell Dr. Chase that it's an emergency!" Gloria rolled her eyes, but only after she'd left her desk and turned away from the three young women.

* * *

Dr. Abigail Chase was sick of the paperwork and phone calls she'd been juggling all day. It didn't help that her staff had simultaneously decided that they wanted some portion of the past week off, be it a half day or the rest of the month. The fact that the funding had finally come through for her redesign of the National Archives database didn't help the number of phone calls or amount of paperwork, either; despite the fact she was happy the money had finally been approved, she hadn't expected this amount of work to come along with it. A soft knock at her door caused her to glance up in irritation. Her secretary, Gloria Roberts, poked her head in, looking chagrined. 

"Dr. Chase? One of your staff is demanding to talk to you, with two friends of hers. Anything going on?" Gloria asked. Abigail frowned.

"Not that I know of. Didn't I say no calls?"

"They're physically at my desk harassing me," Gloria answered, her sheepish expression turning to a beleaguered one.

"Alright, alright, send them in. But I swear, if this is about a treasure hunt…" Abigail trailed off when she realized that Gloria was gone. A few moments later, three young women, dressed as pirates, entered her office. Abigail couldn't help but stare.

"There had better be a good reason for this, Renée," Abigail looked to the pirate farthest on the right, the one with the embarrassed expression.

"Sorry, Dr. Chase, we, that is, Brynn, Rowan and I," Renée gestured to her friends in turn, "had every intention of going and seeing the Pirates movie tonight, but, well, as Brynn can explain…" Renée trailed off, looking to the middle pirate expectantly. Brynn cleared her throat.

"Umm…do you happen to be a friend of Riley Poole?" she asked, hesitantly. Abigail immediately decided she didn't like the look on Brynn's face. She nodded, beginning to worry. "He's an old college friend of mine; I met up with him earlier today, and he was supposed to come to the movie with the three of us and a few other friends. But when we showed up to pick him up, all that was there was a huge mess and this letter. That's why we're here." Brynn handed Abigail the note. The older woman opened it and scanned the message, her face paling.

"You mean to say that Riley's been kidnapped?" Abigail asked, hardly daring to believe it. She'd just seen him this morning!

"It seems that way," Brynn admitted.

"And you didn't call the police or anyone? You just came here to talk to me?" Abigail demanded. Brynn shook her head.

"We read the note, Dr. Chase," the blonde on the far left, Rowan, finally spoke. "Riley's a friend of Brynn's, and we didn't want to do anything that could get him hurt."

"I have to show this to my fiancé, he's going to want to read it," Abigail pocketed the letter. "If you'll excuse me…"

"Of course," Renée nodded, moving out of Abigail's way. The three women followed her out of the office.

"Gloria, I'm going to need the rest of the day off. And the next few days. I don't know when I'll be back," Gloria started, very surprised.

"But, the funding…the department…" Gloria stuttered, very surprised by Abigail's reaction.

"A very close friend of mine is in trouble, and I have to go help him out for a few days. I don't know when I'll be back; hopefully very soon. Keep the place running for me, alright Gloria?" Abigail looked right at Gloria, unspoken begging being transmitted between their eyes. Gloria hesitated, then nodded. Abigail turned to Renée, Rowan, and Brynn. "I hate to run out, but I think you'll understand. Thank you for bringing me this," Abigail gestured to the letter.

"Please, keep me informed," Brynn pleaded. "Riley's a good friend of mine, and I want to help any way I can."

"Alright, I'll call you if there's anything new. What's your number?" Abigail found a paper scrap in her pocket and Brynn recited her cell number, tapping a finger on her thigh nervously.

"Find him, Dr. Chase, please," Brynn said quietly, before the three pirate woman left. Abigail watched after them, hoping that she could do as they asked.

* * *

Alright, that chapter's over with. Next chapter, I promise, has Riley in it! And _maybe _some questions are answered (what can I say? I've only written something like a page for chapter four, so I don't know what else my brain is going to come up with for the rest of it)...but you all will just have to wait another week (hopefully...I'm having a bit of trouble with the chapter...)! Thanks for reading! 


	4. Ransom

A/n-This is actually a longer chapter than the previous ones. Unfortunately, I'm also very nervous about this one for some reason--I wasn't going to post it today, but I figured that if I didn't post, I probably never would. So, here it is!

Disclaimer-I don't own anything except the stuff that I do. I think I've written enough disclaimers that you all get the point.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And lots of warm fuzzies (heehee) to **Rhiannon Aurorafai** for the beta job...and for being the second person to tell me that I apparently hate the word "the".

* * *

Riley moaned as he drifted to consciousness, debating whether to use the energy necessary to open his eyes. He didn't really want to know exactly who, or what, had been in his apartment. After a few minutes of toying with the idea of going back to sleep, he realized that there was an acute lack of sound. This wasn't Riley's first head injury, and it definitely wasn't the first time he'd lost consciousness. However, unlike every other time he'd woken up on the floor, there wasn't anyone keeping a soothing, if not panicked, patter of reassurances that 'everything was going to be alright' or that they'd called an ambulance. Or, on that one occasion he'd woken up in the hospital, at least he'd been able to hear the heart monitor. The complete silence was slightly unnerving, and Riley decided he'd just have to wake up in order to figure out what was going on. 

However, with consciousness came pain. Before he'd even opened his eyes, the back of his head decided to start complaining. The throbbing was almost enough to send him back into the comforting darkness of unconsciousness. But Riley was not one to do anything halfway—it was consciousness or bust.

When he finally did pry his eyes open, he snapped them shut almost instantly as an intense light pierced his skull. Moaning again, he waited a few seconds before tentatively trying again. The light still hurt, but with less of an intensity. He repeated the action almost masochistically until he was able to hold his eyes open without agony. His vision was blurry, but a few blinks cleared it up enough to see his surroundings.

Riley was on the floor of a small room, facing the door. The floor was hardwood, Riley noted, and not comfortable. The wallpaper was an ugly, faded blue that was peeling off the crumbling walls. He sat there for a moment, curled up on his side, before undertaking the next great adventure: moving.

An attempt to uncurl his body only aggravated the throbbing in his head, and even the smallest attempt to sit up was met with overwhelming dizziness and nausea. Reassuming his almost-fetal position on the ground, Riley fought the urge to allow himself to go back to sleep. Instead, he turned his mind to the two questions that had haunted him since he'd woken up: where was he, and who brought him here?

* * *

Abigail had prided herself on keeping a calm façade for the women in her office, but upon entering her car, she put her head on the steering wheel and released a little sob. She couldn't believe that Riley was actually missing. She'd seen him only a few hours ago—what could've happened since then? 

The fact that it was _Riley_ who was missing made the ordeal that much worse. She'd gotten to know him very well during and after the Templar treasure hunt, and was beginning to consider him to be something akin to a quirky, stubborn, and occasionally immature younger brother. Abigail couldn't possibly imagine what was happening to him now…but despite a feeling of helplessness, she was determined to use every resource at her disposal to find the missing young man.

After allowing another soft sob to escape her body, she wiped her eyes and steeled herself. She still had to make the drive home to tell Ben, and it would do no good for her to get in an accident on the way there. Blinking a few times and telling herself that she'd be able to hold on for the length of time that it would take her to drive back to her house, she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

Ben Gates was surprised, to say the least, to see his wife's car pull in to the driveway. He'd thought she'd be working for a few more hours, at the very least. Ben was off for the day; generally during the week he'd be giving lectures at the local colleges and such, but today his schedule had been free. 

Meeting Abigail at the door, Ben could immediately tell that something was wrong. The way she carried herself suggested a sense of urgency, and the look on her face was a mixture of fear and determination.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked, abandoning any conventional greeting.

"Riley's been kidnapped!" Abigail didn't waste any time on a greeting, either. Their friend's life was at stake; there wasn't any time to lose.

"What?" Ben asked, for once at a loss for words.

"This was in his apartment, which, by the way, apparently was a mess," Abigail handed him the letter. Ben accepted it gingerly.

"_Greetings, Abigail Chase and Ben Gates. I believe that this time I will cut right to the chase: I have your friend, a Mr. Riley Poole. And I do believe that you will do whatever it takes to ensure his safe return. Therefore, it would be a great help to ensuring this safe return if you were to leave $200,000 in a black duffel bag within Trinity Church this Sunday. I'm sure you will catch the significance. And I implore you to not involve the police, or any government agencies with similar job descriptions. It will only complicate matters, and will most definitely not be beneficial for anyone_," Ben looked up at Abigail. "There's no signature at the end. I need to think." Abigail recognized the look on his face; it was the same determined countenance he'd had throughout the entire treasure hunt, mixed with the certainty that he'd be able to figure anything out.

"Nobody's called the police, or anyone else. I made sure of that," Abigail tried to help. Ben looked at her.

"You didn't find the letter?"

"No, a few friends of Riley's did when they went to pick him up for a movie. Why?"

"They read it?"

"Yes. Like I said, they're friends of Riley's. They're just as concerned as we are," She looked at the expression on Ben's face. "You couldn't possibly think that they were involved in any of this! Ben, they were three young women dressed as pirates! One of them works for me!" Abigail protested. Ben's head jerked up.

"Call them," he said. Abigail simply stared, and opened her mouth to protest further. "Abigail, if this was some sort of random kidnapping, how did he, or she, know our names?" Abigail's mouth snapped shut, almost audibly.

"Ben, we've been on TV, radio, guest lectures, et cetera, since we found the treasure! We're in high school and college textbooks! I doubt there's a person in the United States that doesn't know our names!" Abigail was exasperated.

"Yes, but look at this," Ben pointed to one line in the note. "How many of those people can actually claim they've met us? Whoever it is said "This time I will cut right to the chase", which means that they've met at least one of us before. And the only lead we have is the women that gave you the letter. If we get them here, we can keep a close eye on them."

"Ben, I still don't think you can count them as suspects. You weren't there when they showed up at my office; I think they were in shock," Regardless of her reluctance, Abigail pulled out her cellphone and the paper that she'd written Brynn's cell number on. As it dialed, Abigail could hear Ben musing to himself about the contents of the letter.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end was unmistakably that of the young pirate she'd met in her office earlier that day.

"Brynn…Gallagher?" Abigail asked, hoping she'd gotten the name right. "This is Abigail Chase."

"Did you find him?" Brynn interrupted, excitedly.

"Well, no, but…" Abigail was again interrupted by Brynn swearing. "Miss Gallagher…"

"Don't call me that. You sound like my old college professors, especially my science one. He really wasn't that fond of me, and I think he was a stalker…" Abigail was forced to cut off the nervous rambling of the younger woman.

"Brynn, listen to me. I talked to my fiancé, and he thinks you and your friends should come here and help us find Riley," Abigail wasn't about to tell her Ben's suspicions, and was sure that as soon as Ben met the three young women, he'd be forced to come up with another so-called lead.

"You really think we could help?" Brynn's voice was borderline hopeful. Abigail could hear another voice, which Abigail correctly identified as that of one of the other pirate women, ask what was going on. She waited a moment for Brynn to update whoever it was, and was about to open her mouth to give an address when there was a brief scuffle and a different voice came through the phone.

"Are you sure that's such a great idea, Dr. Chase?" It was Renée. "I don't know how much help the three of us could be. I mean, Brynn's all gung-ho about it, but she's only a secretary-slash-struggling-writer. Rowan's a kindergarten teacher. I'm a low-level employee at the National Archives. None of us are police officers or profilers." Abigail opened her mouth to reply, wondering what she could possibly say without letting the women know they were suspects, when there was another scuffle and Brynn came back on the line.

"Don't listen to her," Abigail could almost see Brynn glaring at Renée. "I think she's still in shock. What's your address?" Abigail dutifully gave it to her. "Great, we'll see you in about…ten minutes. Bye!" Brynn didn't even wait for Abigail to say "good-bye" before hanging up.

"They're coming," Abigail told Ben. "Anything you were able to glean before they get here?"

"No. I'm a historian, not a profiler, Abigail," Ben shook his head dejectedly. "Whoever it is, he or she's familiar with the Templar treasure hunt, or else they wouldn't have mentioned the significance of Trinity Church. They know our names have probably met at least one of us before. Why don't we just do what he, or she, says? It'd be safer for everyone."

Abigail shook her head, "You don't know that, Ben. I, for one, am not about to leave Riley with this person for an entire week. We'll give him the money if we run out of time. But what I don't get is why they only asked for $200,000? They have to know that we received a lot more money than that as a reward for finding the treasure, even after buying the house and taxes and everything." Ben looked grim.

"I'm starting to think that this isn't about the money," he said. "And that's the part that scares me."

* * *

DUN DUN DUN! I think next chapter we'll actually get to meet the bad guy! Oh boy! So tell me what you think...you know you want to press the pretty purple button. I compel you! 


	5. Scrutiny

A/n-Wow, I didn't think I'd make my usual Wednesday update! I spent the weekend in Santa Barbara scoping out the college there (applications, here I come! I totally have my heart set on UCSB) and realized that when I got back Sunday night that I'd barely written half the chapter and still had to send it along to my beta. It was a very hectic Monday of writing and revising, I'll tell you that! So, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer-Gads, four chapters of disclaimers and I STILL have to put one? Don't you all get the point yet? Someday, hopefully, I'll own something that people will write fanfiction about. Today is not that day.

Thanks as always to **Rhiannon Aurorafai**...all remaining plotholes and grammar mistakes are mine.

* * *

It wasn't long before the doorbell rang. Abigail answered and allowed the three young women into the house. Thankfully, they weren't dressed as pirates any longer.

"This is your house?" Brynn asked, a sense of awe overriding her concern for Riley. "You actually _live _here?" Abigail answered in the affirmative, and tried to shepherd them into the living room. By the time she'd managed it, the wonder had worn off and the women were back to worrying.

"Do you know anything?" Rowan was first to speak up. Unlike her companions, she didn't seem to have a nervous habit: Brynn was tapping her thigh and staring into space, and Renée was chewing her bottom lip.

"My fiancé will answer that," Abigail gestured to Ben, who had just happened to walk into the room. "This is Ben Gates; Ben, these are Riley's friends." The women introduced themselves to Ben, and he sat on the couch and leaned forward.

"How exactly do you know Riley?" he asked.

"He's Brynn's friend," Rowan answered, looking to her friend. Brynn was again staring into space. Rowan nudged her, and she jerked back to reality.

"We were friends in college, and lived together with a few other people as juniors and seniors," Brynn answered. "Why, does it matter?" Ben shrugged.

"So you met up with him earlier today…" Ben trailed off, hoping she'd pick up the topic.

"Yeah. We were going to see the Pirates movie. I asked him if he wanted to get lunch or something first, and he said he was meeting other friends for lunch. Around three-ish we went to pick him up, and the entire place was ransacked, and that letter was there," Brynn's voice was low. "So we went to Dr. Chase's, and here we are now."

"And you read the note?" Ben asked. Brynn blinked and frowned.

"What is this, an interrogation?" she demanded.

"Relax, Brynn," Renée tried to sooth her friend. "Why would he think we had anything to do with your friend vanishing?" Ben made no move answer Brynn's question.

"He wanted to know your opinion about it," Abigail glared at Ben, still unconvinced that Brynn, Renée, and Rowan could be counted as suspects. Brynn's anger was quickly replaced by what could be considered fear.

"I didn't know what to think. I mean, the place was a total mess…" Brynn trailed off.

"It sounded like the kidnapper knew you," Renée added.

"And he means business," Rowan finished, looking away.

"That's pretty much what we came up with. Like you said, Renée, we aren't trained to deal with something like this," Abigail jumped in, not allowing Ben another chance to antagonize the women. She knew he meant well, but sometimes his zealousness could come across as insulting. Surprisingly, Rowan and Renée glanced at Brynn, who blushed a bit.

"What's going on?" Ben asked, catching the look.

"Guys, just because I watch a lot of crime dramas doesn't mean I know anything about criminal justice," Brynn protested. "I mean, I could say that the kidnapper is a Caucasian male in his 20's or 30's, but that's because the offender's _always _a young Caucasian male!"

"You'd do better than either of us," Renée prodded. Brynn sighed and held out a hand. Ben glanced at Abigail, who shrugged.

"Might as well let her see it," Abigail agreed, and Ben handed her the letter. She looked at it.

"So we know he, or whoever, knows either of you two," she glanced at Ben and Abigail, "and it sounds like they're familiar with your treasure hunt. But then again, who isn't?"

"That's what I said," Ben agreed. Brynn shrugged after that.

"And the whole black duffel bag is so cliché," Brynn looked at her the surrounding people. "But that's completely pointless and means nothing."

"Anything you can help us with?" Abigail asked hopefully. Brynn shook her head.

"You already know what I know. But the only thing that gets me is his, or hers…" Brynn trailed off and sighed. "Ok, from now on, he's a 'he'. I'm sick of being grammatically correct." Rowan gave a small chuckle, despite the situation, and Renée rolled her eyes.

"She's always like that. Everything has to be grammatically correct. It comes with being a writer," the brunette replied. Brynn stuck out her tongue.

"As I was saying, he seems to use really formal speech. I mean, you wouldn't really hear someone say something like 'I implore you' in this day and age, would you?" Ben shook his head. "I didn't think so. I couldn't tell you what something like that means, or even if that's his speech pattern. I'm not from _Criminal Minds_, you know."

"Speaking of which," Renée glanced at Brynn, "maybe you two or Riley had enemies? Jealous-of-your-newfound-wealth enemies?" Ben frowned and looked at Abigail.

"Not that I know of…" Ben trailed off.

"There's Ian," Abigail suggested. Ben shook his head.

"Ian and the others are still in jail," Ben admitted. "We would've heard if they'd escaped or something. Besides, he would've asked for more money than $200,000."

"He could have revenge-bent friends in high places that weren't affiliated with the treasure," Abigail tried again. Ben rolled his eyes.

"I've never really had any real enemies—maybe I was a black sheep in the historical community, but nobody ever really _hated _me. What about you?" he asked Abigail. She shook her head.

"There was Dr. Herbert, he seemed a bit jealous of our engagement, never mind the treasure, but I don't think he would be capable of this…besides, he never even met Riley. Then there was Dr. White, he wasn't too happy that someone 'wrecked the Preservation Room', but you don't even know him. And quite a few political figures, legislative and otherwise, aren't terribly happy that a few new bills for more funding have been passed or are gaining support…" Abigail counted on her fingers. The other four in the room stared. She shrugged. "I'm one of the heads of the National Archives, which is politics more than anything else. It's just politics."

"So you have plenty of enemies, but only ones that are too spineless or too incompetent to pull anything like this off," Brynn succinctly summarized. Abigail nodded.

"We have no suspects," Rowan finished.

"It seems that way," Ben admitted. "It seems like the only thing we can do at this point is to wait until Sunday and give this person the money."

"Maybe so, but don't think for a second I'm going to let Riley stay with this psychopath for the rest of the week!" Abigail replied fiercely.

* * *

Riley jerked awake as he heard a door slam. He looked around wildly for the door-slamming culprit, regretting the action immediately as his headache painfully made itself known. Blinking and attempting to clear his head, Riley realized that, at some point, he must have dozed off…not exactly the best thing for a person with a concussion to do. He'd have to try harder to stay awake.

The door to Riley's cell creaked open, and he couldn't help but stare at the unimposing man that entered. Instead of the huge, muscle-bound man Riley had been expecting, the man was of average height, lean build, and had tousled blonde hair. The man was also young, perhaps only a few years Riley's senior. Riley blinked a few times, meeting the man's green eyes.

"Oh, you're conscious," the man said, offhandedly. "That makes things easier." Riley was startled into speech.

"Who are you? Where are we? What's going on?" Riley asked. He managed to pull himself up onto his elbows. "Am I being kidnapped?" Riley was practically whining by the time he reached the last question. The man looked as if he wholly expected the next words out of Riley's mouth to be "are we there yet".

"If I answered all that, it'd spoil the fun," the man stayed by the door. "But you can call me Ash, if it makes you more comfortable."

"Ash, like Pokémon?" Riley asked, completely incredulous. The man scowled, and Riley mentally reminded himself that antagonizing one's enemy was usually not the best plan.

"No, like a tree," Ash replied, his voice hard.

"So you kidnapped me?" Riley asked causally. "Why?"

"That's for me to know, and you to wonder about,"

"You're not very talkative, are you?" Riley was trying gamely to ignore his growing headache, but the longer Riley kept talking, the worse the headache grew. Ash responded by scowling even deeper and leaving the room, allowing the door to slam shut. Riley put his throbbing head in his hands and began to worry.

He hadn't really been trying to annoy Ash. However, Riley's cheerful and outgoing nature became even more pronounced when he was stressed, which had the tendency to anger other stressed people. Riley began to tap his foot in a nervous rhythm and wondered if anyone was looking for him. Hopefully Brynn had noticed he was gone by now and had enlisted the police. Maybe someone had reached Ben or Abigail, and they were looking for him. Riley figured that if Ben could solve a 200-year-old mystery and find an ancient treasure, Ben could find him.

Riley was no idiot, either. As soon as his headache died down to manageable levels, he fully intended to find his own way out. Preferably before something else bad happened. The fact that Ash hadn't worn a disguise of any fashion worried Riley; he'd watched enough TV and read enough crime novels to know that when the kidnapper allowed the victim to see his or her face, said victim wasn't actually intended to be recovered alive. And Riley was quite determined to make sure that he would break out before someone decided that was worth more dead than living.

* * *

Bwahahaha. That was fun. This was definately a bit of a crack!fic chapter, so tell me what you think! I know not much happened on the Ben and Abigail side of things, but hopefully that plot'll pick up--I have dreadful difficulties writing the two of them. Oh, and be prepared for a startling revelation next chapter! Hopefully it'll come out of left field...I have my fingers crossed I'll surprise more than a few of you. Anyhoo, please review and tell me what you think! 


	6. Revelations

A/n-Argh, I'm late! I know I promised weekly updates, and it's been ten days since my last update, but stuff happened, I was out of town yesterday, and my poor beta's sick. But no more excuses, I got it up without a two-month wait, which is a big deal for me. Some interesting things happen this chapter. Woohoo!

Disclaimer-I'm so sick of writing these. This chapter has been disclaimed!

And to my ailing beta, **Rhiannon Aurorafai**, who apparently loves Canada and bubble wrap. Get well soon, chica!

* * *

Riley cursed under his breath as he tried the doorknob for the seventh time. He kicked the door and immediately regretted it as his foot throbbed, reigniting his headache. Sitting against the wall next to the door, he sighed and began to hum, tapping his uninjured foot to the beat. He decided that, in another few minutes, he'd try the window again. 

Ever since Ash had left, Riley had been trying to devise some sort of escape plan. He'd gone to the window first, but quickly realized that he'd only be able to go through it as a last resort. The room was at least five stories up, much too far to jump, and the fire escape did not run near this window. He supposed he could climb down, if he could get the window open. Evidently, it had been painted shut, and Riley wasn't keen on trying to break out. The door wasn't much better. Unlike the rest of the room, the door was in good repair; the hinges were new and would be difficult to remove, and the lock held strong even against Riley's assaults.

Dusk was falling rapidly, and the light in the room fell with it. Riley gulped nervously. He did not want to be here when the room plunged into darkness. There weren't any light fixtures of any description, which meant the only light that would permeate the room when night came would be from streetlights outside. And being five flights up, there would be even less light than if he were farther down. Normally, Riley wasn't claustrophobic. However, fear from his kidnapping gave way to fear of the small, dark room he now found himself in.

Suddenly, light flooded the crack under the door and immediately caught Riley's attention. The room was now almost completely dark, except for this light and the meager glow from streetlights that came through the window. He tried to peer under the crack, to no avail. He couldn't see anything other than the floor on the other side of the door. He heard another door open and close, and realized that, from this position, it was easy to hear what was going on in the rest of the apartment.

"What are you doing here?" this voice he identified as Ash.

"I'm trying to protect you!" the second voice was definitely female.

"What does that mean?" Ash asked.

"I know what you did! God, Jace, did you think that I wouldn't find out?" Riley mentally grinned. When, not if, he escaped, he knew his kidnapper's name and appearance.

"Find out about what?" Ash, or Jace, sounded worried.

"You kidnapped that guy!" the woman sounded exasperated. "Riley Poole, who helped find the Templar treasure! Exactly what made you think I wouldn't find out about this?"

"How did you?" Riley could almost picture the surprise on Jace's face.

"I'm your sister. It's my job to know everything," the woman scoffed. "How I found out isn't the problem. You do know you're going to jail, right?"

"I'm not going to jail. All I have to do is get him to Trinity Church on Sunday, pick up the money, and I'm gone. Nobody's worse for wear,"

"You could've asked me for money, if you needed it that bad. You didn't need to resort to crime,"

"$200,000? I don't think so. I owe some bad people money, and they want it by next week. I don't plan on being next on their hit list," Jace scoffed.

"You could've gone to Canada, or something,"

"What would've stopped them from finding you, or Mom and Dad?"

"I can take care of myself, Jace,"

"It's too late now," Jace didn't sound worried. "I have everything planned out. I've taken care of everything. I have friends in high places, even if they won't help me with my financial woes."

"And what's to stop me from going to the police this instant?" the woman asked. "What's to stop me from telling Dr. Chase and Ben Gates about who you are and what you've done? God, Jacey, one of my roommates was this guy's best friend in college! She found your ransom note! I'm supposed to be helping look for him!" Riley recoiled in shock. Brynn had found the ransom note—that was comforting, at least. She'd move heaven and hell to find him, never mind the fact they hadn't seen each other since graduation. It was more than likely she'd tracked down Ben and Abigail to enlist their help.

"You didn't tell them about me, did you?" Jace asked, his voice hard with apprehension and ire.

"I wanted to. My roommates are my best friends; I hate seeing them fretting and scared about this whole thing. That's why I came here. I want you to do the right thing, Jace. Give yourself up. I'll speak for you in your trial; I'll try to make the jury go easy on you, whatever it takes! But end this stupid thing now, before someone gets hurt!" the woman pleaded.

"You won't tell them anything, if you want me to survive! Those people that I told you about, the ones I owe money to, want me to either pay or die. If you want to still have a brother next week, you won't go to the police or tell your friends about any of this. Just go home and pretend everything's normal!" Jace growled.

"But, but…" the woman tried again, but Riley could hear the front door open and could picture Jace pushing his sister out the door.

Riley leaned back, away from the crack under his cell door. So, his captor, a man named Jace, was the brother of one of Brynn's roommates? He berated himself on not knowing any of their names; he didn't think Brynn had ever mentioned them. He hummed to himself again, more nervous than before. Evidently, there were bad people coming for his kidnapper. All more the reason to try to get out before they showed up. He didn't want to be caught in the crossfire. His only hope was that Jace's sister would break down and reveal his location. If not, he'd just have to find a way to break the window and escape.

* * *

Brynn paced around the apartment, both furious and upset. She hated inaction; she wanted to leap to Riley's rescue like some brunette, freckled, and female version of Superman. Rowan had finally declared that Brynn was driving her crazy and that she was going out for some air. Renée had followed not long after, mentioning she'd be going by her boyfriend's house to give a tentative explanation as to why the movie night had been cancelled. Neither had yet to return, despite the fact that it was well past nine o'clock. 

Brynn finally flopped onto the couch and began tapping her thigh. Something was bothering her about Riley's kidnapping, but she couldn't figure out what. She wished she was still dating that psychology major she'd met in college, but they'd had a nasty split after she caught him cheating and she wasn't going to resort to begging for his help, even for Riley's sake.

Growling to herself, she got up and found her car keys. She was going to Riley's apartment to figure out what her intuition was trying to tell her.

* * *

The apartment door was still unlocked; apparently, nobody in the building had noticed the absence of one Riley Poole. Stepping inside, the living room was the same as she remembered it: slightly messy, with scraps of paper strewn around the floor. Bending over, she picked one up and turned it over. To her surprise, there was writing on the other side. 

"Hmm. Alright, this must be it," she muttered to herself, picking up another piece of paper. She knew why the room had bothered her now. Rowan had said that the place was ransacked, but none of the furniture was out of place. All that had been there was the scraps of paper and the ransom note. Brynn gathered all the pieces she could find, and spread them out over the kitchen table. It was like doing a puzzle, she decided, and Brynn loved to do puzzles.

It didn't take her long to piece the paper back together, and when she did, she wasn't surprised to find a message on it. However, it was the contents of the message that caused her eyes to widen in shock and horror.

_Dear Mr. Poole_, it read, _I must warn you that you are in danger. I ask that you leave your apartment and stay with friends for a few weeks, and not with Mr. Gates or Dr. Chase. The farther you are from the city, the better. Do not take this warning lightly, and do not contact the police! Desperate men are those who should be feared the most, because they feel they have nothing to lose; this is why you must go. Please, it's for your own good!_ The note was unsigned, and typed. Brynn swallowed audibly. Somebody had known that Riley was going to be kidnapped, and had tried to warn him. But why hadn't he heeded the warning? An envelope on the table across from her caught her eye, and she picked it up. Flipping it over, she read the address. It was to Riley's apartment, but the lack of return address piqued Brynn's curiosity. Deducing that the envelope belonged to the tattered letter, she stuffed the pieces into it.

"Wait a second," she said to herself. She looked at the envelope again. Unlike the letter, the envelope's address was handwritten. And to Brynn's surprise, she recognized the handwriting. She whipped out her cellphone as she hurried out the door, dialing Abigail's number.

"Hello?" Abigail asked, sounding worn out.

"It's me, Brynn. I think I've found something very important," Brynn's voice lowered conspiratorially. "Do you think that Rowan, Renée and I could meet at your place again? Are you and Ben there?"

"Of course," Abigail wasn't sure which question she was answering, but decided that the answer applied to both. After a quick goodbye, she hung up and looked at Ben.

"Who was that?" he asked. "Brynn Gallagher again?"

"Yeah. She said she's found something important, and that she and the other two are coming over soon." Both hoped that whatever it was that Brynn had found would blow their entire case wide open.

* * *

So, which of Brynn's roommates knows Riley's kidnapper? Heehee, you'll just have to wait and see! I actually think this story is starting to wrap up; I'd intended for it to run longer, but whether it's my usual writing style or just that I couldn't come up with more plot twists that cut it short, I don't know. I'm thinking maybe three more chapters? Anyhoo, I have to go walk my dog and start my AP Bio homework...review please, and tell me what you think! 


	7. Recovery

A/n-This is my favorite chapter. It's also the penultimate (ooh, long word) and also, for some reason, it's over twice as long as anything that's come before. Once again, I'm late, but that's because I was up in the mountains over the weekend and missed the corrections my beta sent me. In the immortal words of Douglas Adams, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by". But hey, you guys should feel lucky, this is the fastest I've EVER completed a story!

Disclaimer-I don't own anything affiliated with National Treasure. I only own Brynn, Rowan, Renée, and Jace. Go me!

Thanks to **Rhiannon Aurorafai** for the beta and the grammar checks, and the annoying quotation marks! And, because I forgot this EVERY OTHER CHAPTER, thanks to all the people who reviewed, to the people who didn't review and just added the story to their favorites/alert lists, and to the people who didn't review but enjoyed the story anyway! I love you all!

* * *

Brynn frowned at the occupants of Ben and Abigail's living room. She'd come nearly an hour after she'd called Abigail, with the intention of being the last to show up. However, it appeared that her plan hadn't quite gone according to plan. Rowan was missing. 

"It's about time you finally showed up!" Renée noticed the entrance of her roommate, and matched Brynn's scowl. "I think an hour's a bit much for 'fashionably late'." Brynn sat on the couch next to her.

"What did you discover, Brynn? What's with the frantic phone calls?" Abigail asked.

"And what happened to Rowan?" Renée added.

"This note was strewn all over Riley's apartment," Brynn said, pulling the note she'd discovered out of her pocket. She'd taped it together while waiting to make her grand entrance. She handed it to Ben, who scanned it, looked at her meaningfully, and read it aloud.

"That's what you found? You know, that means…" Abigail began.

"Yeah, that somebody knew that the kidnapping was going to happen. And they didn't do anything about it!" Brynn growled.

"But we don't have any idea who sent it!" Renée protested, getting a look at the note. "I mean, it was done on the computer. I mean, I know that we can check the watermark on the paper or something like that, but how much would that help us?"

"Actually, it's the envelope that has the answer. It's handwritten," Brynn handed the envelope to Renée, who recognized the handwriting immediately.

"This is Rowan's handwriting!" Renée cried, looking at her friend in shock. "But…how is that possible? She was with us all day! We forced her to take the day off so we could go shopping and do tourist-y things!"

"This doesn't mean that she had anything to do with the kidnapping, just that she knew it was happening and probably knows the kidnapper," Ben reassured Renée.

"Yeah, but why didn't she say anything? She was with us yesterday when we picked apart the ransom note. Hell, she was in the apartment with me when I found it! She was going to call the police," Brynn was obviously not happy that her friend had deceived her.

"Maybe the kidnapper had something to hold over her head," Abigail suggested. "Maybe she couldn't do anything else. She did try to warn Riley, and I think that counts for something."

"Maybe, but…" Brynn began.

"Who does Rowan know that would want to do such a thing?" Ben asked Renée and Brynn. "Who does she know that would have met one of us?"

"I can't think of anyone off the top of my head," Renée admitted.

"It's got to be someone she's pretty close to," Ben said, looking pensive. "Or else she wouldn't know about Riley's kidnapping."His eyes fell on Brynn, who looked affronted.

"You think I have something to do with this?" she demanded, furiously. Her ire at Rowan's deception was redirected toward Ben. "Riley was my best friend in college! Why would I do something like this to him! I came to you with the ransom note and this warning, remember?"

"Relax, Brynn. He couldn't possibly think that you would do something to Riley," Renée soothed, but the usually affable woman shot Ben an angry glare.

"Smooth, Ben," Abigail said to her fiancé quietly. "Offend the one who came to us for help."

"It was a suggestion," Ben muttered.

"It was a stupid suggestion," Brynn replied, overhearing Ben's statement. "Like Renée said, I was with her and Rowan all day yesterday. If I'd snuck off to do some kidnapping, I think they would've noticed."

"Is there anyone that Rowan's close enough to that she would find out about some sort of evil plan they'd have?" Abigail attempted to remedy the situation. It would do no good if Ben and Brynn ended up fighting all evening, especially after Brynn had found such an important clue.

"Not anyone I can think of," Renée admitted. "The only person I can think of that would need that kind of money would be her boyfriend, who's going back to college to get his Master's degree. But he wouldn't do something like kidnapping. Besides, he's never met you or Ben." Abigail nodded. She'd forgotten the part of the ransom note mentioning the familiarity with her and her fiancé.

"You're sure?" Ben asked. Brynn and Renée nodded in tandem.

"There's no way that Rowan's boyfriend would kidnap anyone. He's just not that kind of person. Maybe he's a little odd at times, but he's really cool once you get used to his little personality quirks,"Renée put in.

"Then we're just going to have to wait for Rowan," Abigail said firmly, cutting off Ben's attempt at more interrogations. "Does anyone want anything to drink?"

* * *

Rowan paced around her apartment, filled with a volatile combination of nervous energy and determination. She looked at the clock. It was almost ten, and she knew that Jace would be out on the town by then, probably in some grungy bar trying to pick up some woman for a one-night stand. It'd probably be safe to venture over to the apartment by then. 

Rowan and her brother had never really been particularly close, despite the fact that she was only two years his senior. Even so, when she'd heard that he was going to try and _kidnap _somebody, she knew that she'd have to try her hardest to prevent it, as much for her brother's sake as his victim's. She'd tried begging, to no avail. She didn't want her little brother to go to jail, but by this point, she had no choice. Jace had gone too far. Rowan had tried her hardest to keep Riley safe. Though, at the time, she hadn't known exactly how involved she'd be in the entire thing. If she'd know that Riley was Brynn's old college buddy, it would've been much easier to try and protect him.

She looked at the clock again, and decided it was time to go. Rowan picked up her keys from the end table and walked out to her car, making every effort to look like she was on a normal mission, to 7-11 for ice cream or something to that effect. She tried to mask the fact that her hands were shaking uncontrollably. It would be an understatement to say that she was scared, but Rowan knew what she had to do. She could only pray that she wouldn't be caught.

* * *

Riley breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a door slam, signifying the departure of his captor. He'd been sitting in almost complete darkness for the past few hours, praying that Jace wouldn't come in the room and discover Riley's pitiful escape attempt. Deciding against breaking the glass, which would be loud and cause undue attention, Riley had begun to chip away at the paint on the windowsill with his nails. It was an agonizingly slow and slightly painful process, but it at least gave him a sense of purpose. Besides, right next to the window was the only place there was any light in the room. Riley wasn't particularly claustrophobic or anything, but his frayed nerves were beginning to play tricks on him in the small, dark room, and it was simply more comfortable near the partially-illuminated window. 

It was maybe a half-hour before he heard the front door open again, though this time he really had to strain to hear it properly. Unlike Jace's usual loud, door-slamming entrances, this one was quiet and furtive. Riley nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice came from the other side of his door.

"Um…Mr. Poole? Are you there?" the voice was quiet, shaking, and definitely feminine. Riley bit back the sudden and irrational impulse to ask the speaker where else he would be.

"Yeah," he replied, moving over to the door.

"Good. If you hold on a sec and stay away from the door, I'll try to open it. I'm sure Jace left the keys around here somewhere…" the voice was stronger this time, obviously reassured that Riley was there and competent of speech. Riley blinked, recognizing the voice from earlier that night. Jace's sister!

There was the sound of furniture being moved, and a small, muffled curse. He heard the woman come back to the door. "I can't find the keys, but I think I can get the lock open. Just wait a few more minutes…"

"Where else would I be going?" Riley asked. The words slipped out before he had the chance to stop them, and he was rewarded by a soft laugh from the woman.

"I can see why Brynn liked you," she said quietly. The lock suddenly clicked open, and Riley stood up, grinning wildly as the door swung inward. The woman on the other side of the door rose, nail file in hand. She grinned. "It's nice to know I still remember everything I learned in high school."

Riley's savior was a blond of medium height and a pleasantly paunchy build, and she was wearing a wide smile. Riley didn't see much of a resemblance between her and her brother, except for maybe the hair tone, though it was hard to see in the dim light. She locked eyes with him. "Well, are you coming?" she asked. "I don't want to still be here when Jace shows up." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his cell and out the front door.

* * *

Brynn sulked over her Coke bottle, wishing she were still holding her beer. Abigail had banned her from the alcohol cabinet when she'd noticed Brynn's dour mood, using the excuse that Brynn still needed to drive home, and it would do no good to add a DUI to the misfortunes of the past few days. Of course, Brynn had not taken this kindly and had quickly proclaimed her Irish heritage, proven by the surname "Gallagher", and her innate tolerance for alcohol. Abigail would hear none of it, and had instead instated a temporary "prohibition" on the entire house. 

"Brynn, we should probably go," Renée looked at her watch. "It's almost eleven, and we both have work tomorrow. Unless, of course, Dr. Chase'll give me the next day off." Renée looked at Abigail meaningfully, and Abigail gave a shrug and a nod.

"I'll call in sick, or something," Brynn replied, unhappily. "Riley obviously takes precedence. I'm sure my boss will understand that."

"Yeah, the fact that you've taken three unscheduled days off will go over really well with him," Renée rolled her eyes.

"Maybe my stupid novel will finally be published and I'll make a billion dollars, like J.K. Rowling, and I'll never have to work again,"Brynn glanced back at Renée. "Then I'll tell Mr. Wicker to take his job and…"

"Right," Renée interrupted. "That'll happen."

"What exactly do you do?" Abigail asked, interestedly.

"Administrative assistant, I believe the politically correct term is. Fancy words for secretary. Or maybe "Mr. Wicker's bitch". Every day, it's 'Miss Gallagher, go make some copies', 'Miss Gallagher, go make me coffee', 'Miss Gallagher, take all my calls for me, but _please _don't threaten to break anyone's fingers again'.I swear, if I have to go to work and hear his nasally voice tomorrow, I think I'll snap. I'll kill him with a stapler. Or I'll pull a Milton and burn the office down." Brynn growled. Abigail smiled in spite of herself, trying to contain a laugh. She could tell that Brynn was obviously not happy with her job, but that the younger woman was embellishing a bit to help diffuse the high-tension situation.

"And what do you do, Mr. Gates?" Renée asked, turning a smile on Ben.

"Well…" Ben began, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"If that's Rowan, finally, I think she's going to have some fingers broken," Brynn muttered under her breath.

Ben rose and answered the door, but nearly had a heart attack when he saw the two people standing on his doorstep. He smiled and led them in.

"Riley!" Brynn shrieked, launching herself at her friend. Rowan stood off to the side, running her fingers through her hair, hoping that Brynn wouldn't try to kill her. They knew about her role in the kidnapping; Brynn had figured it out. Rowan knew as soon as Brynn called her and told her to go to Ben and Abigail's that the jig was up.

"Relax, Brynn, I'm all right," he said, attempting to break free of the tight hold Brynn had on him. Brynn did release him, only to be replaced by Abigail, who, despite being taller and less excited than Brynn, still hugged him tighter than he was used to.

"Thank God you're ok," Abigail said quietly, before releasing him. Riley eyed Ben warily, hoping the older man wouldn't try for a hug, but Ben simply gave him a clap on the shoulder and moved to the couch. Riley and the three women behind him followed.

"How'd you get away?" Brynn asked, settling herself next to Riley on the second couch.

"First of all, who are you?" Riley asked, looking pointedly at Renée and the nervous Rowan.

"Renée King and Rowan Carmichael," Renée answered, pointing to herself and Rowan in turn. "We're Brynn's roommates. We've heard all about you." Riley nodded.

"I wish I could say the same, but I've only been reunited with Brynn in the past, like, two days. I'm Riley Poole, as I'm sure you know," Riley nodded.

"How'd you get away?" Brynn asked again, no less excited by her friend's safe return.

"Rowan broke me out," Riley nodded at the blonde. "Thanks."

"No problem," Rowan replied quietly, not meeting his eyes. In fact, she hadn't done so since that brief moment after she'd picked the lock on Riley's door.

"Rowan, you have a bit of explaining to do," Ben cut right to the chase.

"Yeah, I know," Rowan glanced up. "I didn't really mean for it to get this far. I tried to warn him…" her eyes moved to Riley.

"We know, we found the note. It was torn up on the floor of Riley's apartment," Brynn jumped in.

"Well, that explains the letter I got in the mail," Riley said thoughtfully. "I almost opened it, too, but Brynn interrupted me."

"You are not trying to blame everything on me!" Brynn cried indignantly.

"Go on, Rowan," Renée jumped in before Brynn could continue with her tirade. Rowan cleared her throat.

"Well, you see…" she swallowed audibly. "I knew about the kidnapping because…well, because the kidnapper is my little brother, Jacob."

"You can't possibly mean Jacey, could you?" Renée looked shocked. Rowan nodded. She looked as if she was about to cry. Renée threw a comforting arm around her friend.

"Your brother?" Abigail asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, my little brother, Jacob Carmichael, known to everyone else as Jace. His initials, y'know? JC. I shortened it to Jace," Rowan said quietly. "Apparently he's in debt with some…bad people, I guess, and he needed $200,000 by next week, or else." Rowan drew a finger across her neck. Ben shook his head.

"The lengths some people will go for money," Ben said, shaking his head, remembering how his friend Ian Howe had been willing to kill him, Abigail, Riley, and Ben's father for the Templar treasure.

"Jeez…" Brynn added, shaking her head sadly. She'd forgiven Rowan for keeping Riley's kidnapper a secret. Brynn had three siblings, and she would do anything for them.

"Do you think your brother will know that you rescued Riley?" Renée asked, concerned for Rowan and Riley's safety.

"Yeah, probably. Nobody else knew Riley was there," Rowan replied. "But I doubt he'll think to look here."

"We ought to call the police," Abigail suggested. "We have Riley back, it's not like Jacob would have a hostage."

"Yeah, but Jace has a lot of friends and friends-of-friends in the police department," Rowan shook her head. "He went to the academy at one point, but dropped out. But he makes friends pretty easily. It's hard for people not to like him." It wasn't hard to believe Rowan's characterization of her brother; Rowan herself was outgoing and friendly.

"Yeah, well, what about the big guns?" Riley asked, looking at Ben and Abigail confusedly. "The FBI? The CIA? The NSA? The FDA? The EPA? Hell, I would've settled for NCIS!"

"The FDA and the EPA don't solve crimes, Riley," Brynn rolled her eyes. "And you only know NCIS because you watch TV." Ben groaned suddenly and put his hand on his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Abigail asked.

"We could've gotten this all over and done with when Brynn brought us the ransom note," Ben said, ruefully. Four blank stares met him. "Agent Sadusky." Abigail gave a small moan.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Abigail replied.

"You're telling me that you have an agency contact you could've called?" Brynn asked incredulously.

"Yeah, well, considering the fact that the last time we talked to him, he was trying to incarcerate Ben…" Abigail trailed off.

"Forgive us if we were preoccupied by other things than reminiscing about a treasure hunt," Ben finished. Riley shrugged.

"Hey, I'm here, I'm safe, and you can call Agent Sadusky now and tell him that there's some sort of psycho kidnapper out there that wanted to ransom me for money and that the police department is corrupt, sorta. He'll fix it," Riley grinned. "As for me, I'm going to bed."

Ben rummaged in his pocket until he pulled out his wallet,and removed a business card. He picked up the phone and dialed the number on the card.

"Sadusky," Agent Sadusky's voice was crisp and clear over the phone, suggesting he was either working a late shift or hadn't been woken up.

"This is Ben Gates. Sorry I'm calling so late, but I have a kidnapping to report…"

* * *

Next chapter's the epilogue...thoughts on this chapter? It's my favorite, but it doesn't have to be yours! I can take critiques! I can take praise! I can take long, random, nonsensical rants that have no point! Just click the pretty purple button! I start my senior year in a week, haven't finished my homework, and would really love to hear from you guys just to break the monotony! No, I'm not above begging...why do you ask? 


	8. Epilogue

A/n-Well, here it is. The epilogue. I wasn't sure exactly how to do it, so I decided to wing it. Hope you like!

Disclaimer-I don't own anything involved with National Treasure, except for the stuff that I've already said I own. I also don't own any movies in the _Die Hard _series, though _Live Free or Die Hard _was excellent. I saw it twice.

Dedication-This last chapter's dedicated to **nemo123489**, **ImaSupernaturalCSI**, and **daisyduke80** for reviewing nearly every chapter! Thanks for all the support and reviews! And, of course, to my faithful beta **Rhiannon Aurorafai**. Check out her story, "Retaliation", under the NCIS fandom!

Note-I'm not sure how long Jace's trial would be, so picked a reasonable length of time. And since I'm sure, by this point, you're all screaming "Get on with it!" à la Monty Python, here's the story!

* * *

_Three months later..._

"What part of 'it'll be fun' don't you understand?" Brynn demanded. Riley rolled his eyes.

"Don't you remember what happened last time you invited me to the movies?" Riley asked. Brynn scowled.

"Be nice. You were at the trial. Rowan's brother is going away for a long, long time. Besides, we're not dressing up this time," Brynn retorted.

The local police, sent by Agent Sadusky, had picked up Jacob Carmichael an hour after Ben had called him, and the trial had taken place not long after. Despite his offenses, Jacob had a shortened sentence because he'd agreed to give up the men he owed money to. Even so, he'd still be away for quite a few years, though neither Riley nor Brynn knew exactly how many; both were pleased to put the entire incident behind them. Brynn had been quick to forgive Rowan, but Riley felt awkward around her.

"But…" Riley protested. He wasn't about to run out on Abigail to go see a movie. She'd hired him to reconfigure the National Archives' databases, along with a few other genius computer technicians.

"Alright, I knew this would happen," Brynn sighed. "You don't have a choice. Abigail will be fine without you for a few hours. You're coming with me, workaholic."

"I'm not a…" there was a tapping on the door of his office. Abigail hadn't even considered denying him an office. She knew Riley's disorganized habits, and she wasn't about to allow him to mess up any of her conference rooms or the areas holding the actual computer systems. Pinning the phone between his ear and his shoulder, he pushed his rolling office chair to the door and pulled it open. He sighed, dropping the phone as he saw his visitor.

"Hi Riley," Brynn smiled mischievously, still holding her cell phone up to her ear.

"Didn't I say…"

"And I said you have no choice. C'mon, computer geek," she hung up his telephone and pulled him out of the chair. "Have you even seen daylight in the past week?"

"Daylight's overrated. What about you, have you killed your boss yet?" Riley teased right back. He'd known that Brynn would make him go see the movie. He'd already cleared the absence with Abigail. Their relationship had always been like that; she was gung-ho about everything and ready to go on a whim. He was the slightly reluctant sidekick.

"Nope, but I'm this close," Brynn put her index and thumb fingers together, wincing as she did so. "I hope I get published soon, so I can pull a J.K. Rowling and make insane amounts of money overnight. Then I can tell Mr. Wicker where to stick his job." She gave a happy sigh. "It makes me happy inside just thinking about it."

As Riley and Brynn entered the parking lot, Riley glanced around. He fully expected to see Brynn's beaten up old Subaru Legacy, the car she'd bought after Riley had totaled her Volvo. To his surprise, they approached a large red caravan.

"Hey Riley!" Renée rolled down the window of the passenger seat and waved. Rowan was behind the wheel, offering a small smile. Brynn hauled the door open.

"What's with the van?" Riley asked, blinking a few times.

"Rowan donated her car to chauffeur us to the theater," Renée elbowed Rowan. "It's probably a good idea, too, because we have to go pick up the other guys."

"Yeah," Brynn laughed. "Rowan and Renée insisted on bringing their boyfriends this time. You'll like them. Cameron's totally random and Greg does the best Sean Connery impression I've ever heard. It'll be fun!"

"What are we seeing exactly?" Renée asked, turning around in her seat as Rowan pulled out of the lot.

"_Live Free or Die Hard_," Brynn held up the tickets. "What could be better than Bruce Willis and random stuff being blown up?" The other three laughed.

Riley had initially not wanted to intrude upon the outings of the three women, especially because of the awkwardness between him and Rowan. However, Brynn had pushed and pushed, and Riley knew he wouldn't be able to outlast her stubbornness. As the three young women bantered amicably and told stories about each other, Riley relaxed and gave an easy grin.

Oh, yeah. He could get used to this.

* * *

There it is, the end. I hope you didn't think it was too cornball or anything. I know it doesn't have too many "Riley owies", and to be honest, it hadn't been planned that way. Even my beta thought it was strange that I wasn't beating the living daylights out of anyone. 

So, I'm actually thinking of another story involving less of Ben and Abigail (yeah, I know, they didn't have huge parts in this story, but hey...) and more of Riley, Brynn, Rowan, and Renée, along with the once-mentioned Greg and Cameron. I don't have any semblence of a potential plot or anything, but I just thought it might be fun and good practice for getting back into original fiction, which I'm trying to get back into. So, what do you guys think?

Thanks for all the support and reviews!

--Pog Mahon


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